Tales of the Eternal Alliance: The Last Moment of Your Life
by SWTORpadawan
Summary: A member of the Alliance has her life flash before her eyes...


**Author's Note:** _The following story takes place during Chapter 8 of the_ **Knights of the Eternal Throne** _. It is based in the same iteration as most of my other stories._

* * *

Vette knew she was about to die.

She was wounded (pretty sure her ribs were bruised), she was alone, she was surrounded, and she was hopelessly outnumbered.

The portable missile launcher she'd 'borrowed' from Doctor Oggurobb had long-since run out of ammo and been cast aside. Her sidearm blaster had fallen from her hand and wouldn't have been much use against a trio of Knights of Zakuul supported by a dozen Skytroopers blasting away at her position anyway. She had ducked behind a fallen Zakuulan Walker for cover, but now they were right on top of her.

She looked up and saw the Knight with his lightsaber pike, weapon raised, ready to deliver the death blow. Unarmed and too sore to even dodge, there was nothing she could do to stop him.

The Commander was coming for her, she knew, but he hadn't reached her yet. That was sad. If she had just been able to hold out a little bit longer….

Vette had heard once that your entire life flashes before your eyes the second before you die.

What Vette discovered in this moment was that that one second feels like it stretches on forever. That it was as endless as the galaxy, with every star representing shining little moments in her life. Her childhood, her time as a slave and a pirate and a thief, her time serving on Kael's crew, their inevitable breakup, surviving Zakuul's invasion, teaming up with Gault and finally, her time in the Eternal Alliance.

What she thought of most of all – what the stars were that burned the brightest in her flash – was her regrets.

The things she hadn't done. The things she'd never get a chance to do.

She'd wished she'd have more time to work on the emancipation of her fellow Twi'leks. It had been slow going, even with her cut of the proceeds from the _Gilded Star_ job. But she liked to think that with time, she could have gotten somewhere.

But most of her regrets involved the people who had been part of her life.

First up was Tivva. No surprise there. Her sister was her last surviving blood relation. But after the Eternal Empire had invaded, the two had lost touch with each other. It wasn't like Vette had _meant_ to do that. But she and her sister were very different people. Her sister was used to using her sex appeal to survive while Vette had mostly gotten by on her guile and the wide assortment of skills she'd picked up along the way. That led to very different perspectives on the galaxy and on everything else. When their mother had died, Tivva was consumed by her lust for revenge on the Hutt who'd worked her to death. Vette… just couldn't follow her down that path. They'd exchanged letters afterwards but hadn't seen each other since. Then a couple of years later Zakuul had invaded and she was back to just trying to survive. Vette hoped her sister was alright, even if she was still with that Imperial Moff. She told herself that if she had one more day, she'd at least have sent a message and try to track Tivva down. She just… wished she'd had the time.

Much as she'd hate to admit it, Vette regretted never really thanking Gault, who'd been her partner (in crime) for two years before they both joined the Alliance. Vette held no illusions about Gault's character; the man was a shifty, back-stabbing cheat. But, for all of that, and for all their constant bickering back and forth, he'd never really cheated her. The Davorian had been good to her, and deep down she was grateful. Vette guessed at some point, Gault had learned the hard way that betraying his own friends was too costly. (That was probably related to that blowup he had had with Hylo years ago.) She didn't really have the words for it. Blast, Gault would probably have teased her about it if she'd tried to express her gratitude.

Not being able to help Kael when he'd gone crazy was another regret. Of course, it was _Lord_ Kael to anyone outside of his old crew. The Sith Lord hadn't exactly been _kind_ to Vette; after all, she had (legally) been his slave. But he had at least taken her shock collar off and listened to her talk about her past. He was _protective_ of her, up to a point. (That might have been possessiveness? She couldn't really be sure.) Quinn might have always had a stick up his butt and Jaesa might have been nasty to her, going through 'Sith puberty' or whatever, but he hadn't let either of them give Vette too much grief. If he hadn't been good to her, he'd at least been… okay. And okay was a step up compared to most of the people she'd dealt with in her life.

Unfortunately, Kael had gone kind of nuts once he realized the Sith Emperor didn't give two credits about the Empire… or about Kael, for that matter. Worse, the Emperor had tried to destroy the entire galaxy while everyone else had been fighting a war. The desire for vengeance had consumed the Emperor's Wrath and blinded him to everything else. Failing in his goal to confront his old Master, Kael had eventually disbanded his crew, running off on his own to find a new direction for himself. A few weeks later, Vette heard he'd joined up with this 'Revan' guy, fighting both the Republic and the Empire on Yavin 4. There, he'd been killed fighting some random Jedi.

Years later, that same 'random Jedi' would become the Commander of the Eternal Alliance. Her new boss.

(Small galaxy, huh?)

Vette also really wished she had joined the Commander on that one mission to Alderaan. The one where he had saved that Wookie Senator, Gryyzak. It was only afterward, when the Commander had described Gryyzak's assailant in the war room, that she understood immediately who he had fought. Broonmark. Poor, vicious, _cuddly_ Broonmark. The one member of Kael's crew who had consistently treated her with kindness. Oh, Broonmark was as feral and as blood-thirsty as any of the others, but he was gentle to her. Fuzzy as he was, he gave the best hugs, and treated her like family. (Or treated her like 'Clan' in Broonmark's case.) So, when the Commander had described his encounter with a sociopathic Talz on Alderaan and how he was forced to kill him in order to save the Senator, Vette had quickly excused herself from the room and found a private corner of the base where she had burst into tears. She had known Broonmark. She knew he was probably hunting the Senator for some crazy reason that only made sense to him. She didn't doubt for one second that he hadn't given the Commander any other choice. But she couldn't help but believe that if she had accompanied the Commander on that day, she would have been able to talk Broonmark down. She could have maybe convinced him to join them instead of killing the Senator. She'd have helped him find a place within the Alliance.

Vette wished she'd told the Commander about Broonmark. And how she didn't blame him for the death of her friend. Or Kael, her old boss, for that matter.

The Commander… there was another one.

Most of the people Vette had known - even the few who'd taken care of her like Nok Drayen, Kael, Broonmark and Gault - had all been hardened by an uncaring galaxy that didn't seem to care. They may have been good to her, but she couldn't truthfully say that any of them were _good_.

But the Commander was _good_. Not just to her, but to everyone. Even people who probably didn't deserve it, like Kaliyo. Even to people who had betrayed him, like Saresh. Even to former tyrants who had imprisoned him for five years while they invaded the galaxy, like Arcann.

(That last one was maybe a short list…)

He wasn't a sap, or naïve or even overly optimistic. He was just… good. And he was going to win this fight. She was sure of it. Everyone was. It wasn't just that she thought he was the galaxy's best chance. When Saresh had told everyone that the Commander was dead, it was like the air had gone out of the entire Alliance. But when the Commander had walked in, alive, standing tall and confronted Saresh, that was… wow. Just wow. After that, it was hard not to think of him as this invincible champion who was going to lead them all to victory.

As the lightsaber pike started to come down on her, she wished she had had more time to tell him that.

A bright blue light flashed above her head. For the briefest moment, Vette wondered if she were already dead, and the Goddess her mother had told her about as a small child back on Ryloth had come for her spirit. That she was being called to the after-life.

Then she realized that the blue light had collided with the torso of the Zakuulan Knight, shattering his chest plate armor and driving him back. No sooner had that thought registered in her mind – along with the knowledge that she had survived – then a robed form seemed to fly over her head, landing between her and the Eternal Empire troops in a flash that knocked even the Skytroopers off balance, then catching the blue light as it returned to his hand. The Alliance Commander held the blue lightsaber in his left hand and a gold one in his right, and he fell upon Vaylin's troops in a frenzy. A moment later, two more flashes landed at his flanks as Senya and Arcann joined him in battle.

It wouldn't be until later that Vette would piece together what exactly happened. Apparently, the Commander, Senya and Arcann had spotted Vette and, realizing they wouldn't be in time to save her, the Outlander had hurled thrown his lightsaber in mid-stride, throwing it from that distance and watching it sail just inches above her head, then striking the Knight and saving Vette's life.

All this from about forty meters away.

By the time the blade had connected with its target, the Commander was already in a Force leap, catching the ignited blue lightsaber in mid-air as he landed. The three Force users – three of the most powerful warriors in the galaxy – now fell upon their foes.

Vaylin's troops had given no quarter and asked for none.

And right now, the Commander wasn't, either.

"Vette. Are you hurt?"

The Commander was standing above her, now. His expression was one of concern. Looking at him now, it was difficult to believe that seconds earlier, he was tearing through Skytroopers. Arcann and Senya were standing a few meters away, wary of further attacks.

"Roughed up a bit, but I'll survive." Vette looked downward. "Not going to lie… I started to wonder if you'd make it."

"I said I'd come for you, Vette. I don't break promises with my friends." He gave her a reassuring smile.

He made it sound so simple. She realized in that moment that to him, saving her life was just one more moment in his. That to him, saving the lives of others came as naturally as breathing did to everyone else. He probably wouldn't give it a second thought later on. It was just like saving people – saving everyone – was basically his _job_. His purpose.

"I'm grateful for that." she swallowed, giving him a hopeful smile. "Thank you."

A minute later, he was gone, trailed by Senya and Arcann. Vaylin had taken Torian prisoner, and the Commander was going after her.

Vette rose to her feet, her entire life suddenly ahead of her. She'd have time to lookup her sister. She'd have time for all kinds of things.

As Vette made her way to safety, she didn't doubt for one moment that the Commander would catch up to Vaylin, and that he'd finish this war, once and for all.

And she'd do whatever she could to help him.

* * *

 ** _From:_** _Vette  
_ ** _Subject:_** _I owe you._

 _The title kind of says it all. I thought I was a goner on that battlefield. Over. Done. Finished. And then you showed up._

 _It's weird, because I feel bad about what happened to Torian. He gave his life for the Alliance. And he wasn't the only one. I guess that's part of war. People die. And I really though I'd be one of them. But now I have a second chance. Because of you._

 _I'm not sure exactly why you chose to save me, but I'm in your debt. And I'll do everything I can to pay you back, somehow._

 _You already had my loyalty, Commander. But now… I don't even know how to explain it. Words aren't really my thing. Just know—you had my back out there. And now I've got yours. Forever._

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _Just so there's no confusion, I'm actually a big fan of the Sith Warrior storyline. It's fun, can be approached from many directions and there's a definite re-playability. One thing that's always bothered me about the "Legacy" system is that its hard to accept that some of these characters wouldn't have killed each other. And, obviously, only one of them can be the Outlander at any given time. So – the guy who was the Sith Warrior/Emperor's Wrath in Corellan's chronology – Kael – is deceased as of KOTFE/KOTET. (Likewise, when I play my SW/EW as the Outlander, its probable the Hero of Tython is dead in that version as well.) I intend to explore this in detail in a future work._

 _Second, credit where credit is due - the idea of having Vette and Broonmark as best buddies was inspired by the most excellent fan fiction story_ **Awake and Alive** _by_ **Raven Studios** _. Without question, this is one of the finest pieces of fan fiction I've ever read. So - credit to the writer for this idea, and I encourage you to give it a look if you are a fan of the genre. (Which I have to assume you are.)_

 _Finally, most importantly, the reasons why i was inspired to write this piece. I had played through all the classic campaigns before i went back and played KOTFE/KOTET with my main, Corellan. So i was very familiar with the Vette character. I didn't think there was anything another class could give me in regards to her development, but the letter she sends you - which I've included above - honestly touched me. She's such a fun character, it got my head-canon spinning. Vette's definitely had a tough life. She's been used by a lot of people. Maybe she deserves a friend who cares about her for purely altruistic reasons._

 _Thank you, and may the Force be with You._


End file.
